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Students breathe a sigh of relief as Kingston University’s officials begin the work of cleaning Hogsmill river that divides Knights Park campus and Middle Mill halls of residence.

Increasing number of moths and flies hovering above the river that runs along the Stanley Picker Gallery, Middle Mill and Knights Park has been causing difficulties for students and other by passers lately.

Georgina Hamman, one of the caretakers at Middle Mill said: “With summer closing in we have to start with cleaning or the number of flies will only keep increasing.”

Flies and moths all around the place are no strangers for the students and the residents and are becoming a concern for everyone.

The cleaning process began in the last week of March and is expected to continue for another week.

Jacob Chandler, an American student doing foundation in Fine Arts said: “It’s good that they are doing the cleaning at this time as most of the students will be home during the Easter break.”

Students and staff have noticed that the number of flies always increases during the timespan between spring and summer seasons.

The work of cleaning Hogsmill is shared between the officials at Middle Mill and a company outsourced by Kingston council.

The Knights Park LRC will stay open for 24-hours a day during the exam period after students demanded longer opening times, the university confirmed on Tuesday.

The trial will run from April 23 to June 20 and according to Rachel Pownall, the LRC’s Senior Information Advisor, library staff will do head counts to decide whether the measure is poplar enough to adopt permanently.

“They’re actually bringing in contractors to run it, so this really is just a trial, and we will just have to see how it runs.” said Powell.

Nigel Buckley, an information assistant at the Knights Park LRC said that the trial was a result of consulting sessions with student representatives who said that students would like longer hours to work on their projects.

In order to meet their deadlines, Knights Park students have often had to use the computers and printers in Penrhyn Road after the Knights Park LRC closed.

Kali MacKenzie, 19, a photography student on exchange from the USA, said: “I can’t believe the libraries here close so early because the ones at home stay open really late.”

Staffing, security, and uncertainty about whether the night hours would actually be used by students had been the main obstacles to longer hours at the Knights Park LRC, Buckley said.

The Knights Park LRC staff were also concerned that due to the nature of studio based courses, night openings might encourage students to pull more all-nighters and could be detrimental to their health.

Buckley said: “We want to make sure that students are looking after themselves, so if students fall asleep we will have to wake them up and ask them to leave.”

The Kingston Cougars are trailing City University 12-4 after the first day of the 2017 varsity series at CitySport in Barbican on Tuesday.

The City University Wolfpack raced to an early lead after wins in all the volleyball and squash matches and a draw in the badminton event, before Kingston reduced the deficit with a win in the mixed hockey.

Bayn Badmaeva, an 18-year-old Interior Design student in Knights Park, watched the first day of the event and said: “It was not the best start on the field but it has definitely been fun and worth the journey to Central London.”

The varsity series is an annual event where students from two rival universities compete in various sporting events over two days.

The second day of this year’s series will take place on Wednesday at the Kingston University sports ground in Tolworth.

Fun Atmosphere

Kirstie Wong, a City University student said: “It’s my second varsity but Kingston students have been the best visiting fans. You can tell it is a great arts school.”

There’s a bar to rival the Ministry of Sound and artwork that can rival the Tate (seriously Stanley Picker > Louvre) but there are still times when living on Knights Park has its drawbacks. Well, specifically one, the flies. It’s impossible to walk through the bridge without dodging a swarm and it’s hard to imagine enjoying a Cornetto without aimlessly attempting to swat away one of those opportunists.

Your friends at Knights Park Press spoke know you find the flies particularly annoying so we spoke to Jon Fahy, a postgraduate entomology (he studies insects) student at Harper Adams University and he gave us a few words of advice on how to make sure those insects do not ruin your drink at the terrace. We’ve conveniently highlighted his advice in red so if you just want to read that and ignore the rest of this diatribe, we will not blame you in the slightest.

#1

Stay away from the river. “The type of fly that is probably most common in the area is the black fly which tends to be found near a river or a stream.” Fahy tells us. The Hogsmill is to blame. Stay away from there. Avoid drinking at the Knights Park bar. Do not under any circumstances congregate around the terrace. Avoid your halls at all costs. Skip lectures, study in Penrhyn, maybe drop out of university altogether but just stay away from the river for goodness sake.

The Hogsmill is to blame, avoid at all costs.

#2

“Black flies usually prefer daylight.” So if you do not particularly feel like taking our advice and avoiding the river altogether, just do night time visits. Be nocturnal, avoid day drinking.

#3

“Some species of black flies bite.” Wear hundreds, and if possible, thousands of layers of clothes. Helmets included. They’d need one heck of a bite to get anywhere near your skin that way. Also, see #1 and #2, also relevant here.

#4

“There’s probably lots of fruit flies around too, avoid sugary, sweet and fruity drinks and snacks.” Avoid Strongbow Dark Fruits, maybe Snakebites too. If you desperately need white wine, make it dry. Under no circumstance should you order a glass of red. #1 is also relevant here.

#5

Just embrace it. No expertise from Fahy here, so there should not be any red. Just some Knights Park Press editorial sentimentality which I could not resist but highlight in red too. You’ll miss those pests when you graduate. Every time you see a fly, the nostalgia of afternoons under the sun on the terrace after getting a pint of Kronenburg on a plastic cup will hit you. The flies are just as important to the Knights Park ecosystem as a fashion student pulling off double denim, or a graphics student walking around with a huge A3-sized drawing pad. The flies of Knights Park are an institution, and if you can deal with them for three years, you’re ready for anything that real world throws at you.

March 24 JG0001 6:00pm – 8:00pm

50:50 PARLIAMENT TALK

The percentage of women in parliament has nearly doubled in the last 20 years. But this only translates into 22% of women in parliament.

MARCH 29 Knights Park Campus 2:00pm – 4:00pm

EEL MONITORING TRAINING

Help check the biodiversity eel trap on the Hogsmill river throughout the summer as part of the ZSL’s eel survey. Join the first training event in advance of the April checks and take the chance to work with an internationally renowned conservation organisation. Booking is essential to attend this event.

MARCH 29 Main Lecture Lecture 6:30pm

ARCHITECTURE SECOND YEAR FORUM

A post-Assembly discussion with Professor Andrew Clancy, second year students and recent alumni Nana Biamah-Ofusu and Bushra Mohamed. Topics will include: collaborative pratice, reflecting on how we work and approaching the graduate year.

All welcome. Refreshments provided!

ARTS SISTERHOOD UK

MARCH 31 KPTK711 5:00pm – 7:00pm

ART THERAPY CLASS

This is a peer-led group developed and facilitated by volunteers with an interest in creativity and mental health to meet a need in the community. Women & identifying persons only.

FILMMAKING FUNDRAISER:

MARCH 31 Knights Park Bar 8:00pm – 11:00pm

GLITTER DISCO

Bring your sequins, sparkles and all things reflective. Our Glitter Disco social is £2 entry on the door. Disco funk and soul music from the Working Mens’ Club. £2 Entry

Knights Park students are outraged by the decision to move classes to other campuses whilst rebuilding work takes place from September.

The Knights Park campus will be renovated and some courses, including Illustration Animation and Graphic Design will be forced to move to other Kingston campuses.

“The decision is fair that they want to improve the facilities but at the same time they should have thought about the difficulties the students could be facing.” Said Riyansh Shah, a second-year architecture student.

Students joining Kingston University this year have not been told about the renovation or the relocation to other campuses.

Kingston University was ranked in the top 100 for art and design courses globally earlier this month.

Nathan Ward, a first-year Illustration Animation student said: “We were told that we’ll have to go to the river house during the time they finish up with the work here at Knights Park.”

The number of applications to study abroad next year has increased but the International Administrator for the Kingston School of Art and Design said that the campus renovations were not solely to blame for this.

Some students however, believe that the rebuilding work will be beneficial in the long run.

Vighnesh Palani, a third-year graphic design student said: “I’m actually quite happy because the building really needed this change and after it’s done, people will realise it.”

The renovations are expected to begin at the start of the first semester of the next academic year.

Preserving the Past: Curating the Future exhibition at Platform Gallery

FASHION FUNDRAISER:

March 20 Knights Park SU

MONDAY FUNDAY

£2 Entry

WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH EVENT:

March 21 Knights Park Staff Space 11:00am – 1:00pm

CRAFT FOR EQUALITY

WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH EVENT:

March 21 PRJG4010 2:00pm – 4:00pm

FEMINISM AND POETRY WORKSHOP: WOMEN, WITCHES AND INTERTEXTUALITY

March 22 DIY Space For London 7:30pm – 9:30pm

ART THERAPY CLASS

This is a peer-led group developed and facilitated by volunteers with an interest in creativity and mental health to meet a need in the community. Women and identifying persons only. More info at: http://www.facebook.com/arts.sisterhood.uk/

Promotional image for a short course in fashion design offered by Kingston University across three top fashion cities

More students than ever before have applied to study abroad just months before most Faculty of Arts and Design courses will be forced out of the Knights Park campus due to renovations.

Some courses will be forced to move to River House, Middle Mill and Penrhyn Road in the next academic year, although fashion courses are expected to stay on Knights Park despite the refurbishments.

Harriet Davey, 20, a Graphic Design course representative said: “The campus environment makes Kingston special so it makes sense that people do not want to be here next year.”

According to Adam Haslam, the Graphic Design Course Director, applications to study abroad have more than doubled in the course.

Just five Illustration Animation students studied abroad in 2016/17, however 25 applications have already been made for 2017/18.

Ben Crombie, 20, a first year Illustration Animation student said: “Universities should by law have to tell potential students where they will be studying and if a course is being moved to a temporary building.”

Currently, 65 students from the Faculty of Arts and Design are studying abroad, a slight increase from 2014/15 where 60 students did semesters abroad.

Alan Russell, the International Administrator for the Kingston School of Art and Design, said that the campus renovations are not to blame for the growing number of study abroad applications.

Russell said: “The number of study abroad applications has gone up year on year, and students are feeling a sense of urgency to spend some time overseas before Brexit.”

Study abroad applications from the Faculty of Art and Design make up roughly 40 per cent of all study abroad applications in the university.

Students have until May 31 to apply to study abroad for the whole of the next academic year.